This invention relates to an apparatus and method for making highly sensitive measurements of acceleration.
In missiles, satellites or spaceships travelling at very high speeds, the accurate measurement of acceleration can be very important to give guidance and navigation. A slight change in acceleration has a major effect on the distance travelled by such a projectile. In order to maintain a reliable guidance system, a highly accurate accelerometer is desirable.
A threshold accelerator switch has been disclosed by White et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,727,209 and 3,764,820. Each switch can only determine when a certain threshold level of acceleration has been reached. To get an acceleration profile, a plurality of switches having different acceleration thresholds are required. Furthermore, the acceleration switches disclosed by White et al. have a sensitivity of about 25 g, where g=9.8 m/sec..sup.2, the acceleration due to gravity. It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and provide a more versatile and sensitive accelerometer.